What Lies Between
by Shrodinger's Pen
Summary: "Sorry about missing wash day these past few... recently." She finally managed awkwardly, he did look up this time, pulling the blade away to pause his progress. "It's okay Astrid, with your … you've been busy." Hicstrid oneshot collection excerpt from Chapter Nine: Second Encounter. HTTYD 2 Spoilers!. M rating @ ch. 8!
1. First Flight

**AN:** I'm using these oneshots to practice and master the characters and their interactions, so if you notice anything you don't think is in character with these two please let me know, and if you have any requests for oneshots I'll take them into consideration and credit the contributor. It's not guaranteed that I'll write it, however, because as I said I'm trying to get a feel for Hiccup and Astrid and if your oneshot doesn't seem like something they'd do it would contradict with the mission here, thanks in advance and enjoy.

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First Flight

The wind whipped Hiccup's hair around his mask, tickling his temples but staying out of his eyes as he'd hoped. The mask really was the perfect solution to his troubles. His cheeks no longer felt the stinging bite of Berk's cold wet wind and he didn't have to squint against the unending gale, improving his visibility. He really should make one for Astrid, and all of the riders on further speculation.

As Toothless banked over Raven's Point, heading out to sea, his heart fluttered nervously. Today he would test his latest invention, a modification to his flight suit that had come to him randomly during his bath a few months back and refused to be ignored until he tested it out. A few minutes of coasting over the waves and he was far enough out that he felt comfortable trying his latest idea. They were past the rocks that lurked under the waters off the coast of Berk, but not so far that Berk was fading from sight on the horizon. Taking a deep steadying breath he patted Toothless' shoulder, more to reassure himself than the dragon.

"Okay bud, you ready?" his scaly companion grumbled an unintelligible response, adequately conveying his distrust of the thin leather flaps that were meant to sustain his flight. Toothless knew better than to try and reign in his rider's harebrained endeavors, it was a hopeless quest, even for a dragon. He didn't have to like it though, and he often found himself peeved by Hiccup's less than thought-out plans. "Oh hush, it'll be fine." Hiccup reached down and cranked back the lever that locked Toothless' tail fin in the coast position and removed his artificial limb from the mounting that held him to the saddle. Toothless' flight wobbled for a second as he adjusted to the offset position but steadied back out. Astrid, astride Stormfly, notice the slight hiccup in flight and advanced to call out:

"Everything okay?" She would not get an answer. As she watched, still a few dragon-lengths behind the couple, Hiccup hopped up into a crouch on the ebony dragon's saddle and without a moments notice the wind had ripped him off his stead and sent him flying back past Astrid and Stormfly. "Stormfly!" She yelled, panic gripping her heart and numbing her limbs, Stormfly flipped up and somersaulted in the air, righting herself facing the opposite direction and darting after the lone figure dropping like a stone toward the sea. Before she reached him he hand spread his arms and legs and miraculously he was floating. He wasn't flying, the longer he stayed in the air, wobbling dangerously as the wind slipped around his thin frame, he grew closer and closer to the waves below, but it could hardly be considered falling.

Astrid sat back in her saddle, eyes wide, her face a shameful, dumbstruck, shock. Now that it was apparent that Hiccup was not plummeting to his death she had a moment to still her racing heart. She surveyed the sky and found Toothless making a wide arch to get back to Hiccup, restricted to slow maneuvers by the locked tail fin. Eventually he came up behind him, just underneath his reckless rider and slowly, gently, came up to meet him until Hiccup was safely back in the saddle. Astrid directed Stormfly to head back to Raven's Point, knowing Hiccup would follow.

She landed a minute before he did, hopping off her dragon and loosening the straps that held the saddle to her back so she would be more comfortable. When Hiccup touched down she pointedly ignored him, scratching the itchy scales that rubbed against the leather, as he exalted in the success of his flight with Toothless. "Did you see that Astrid? It went better than I would've ever hoped!" Something about his cheery tone, and the implication that he'd expected _more_ danger, set her off. She whirled around, fury burning in her eyes, and his poor excited expression had just enough time to be marred by confusion before she swung and punched him square in the cheek. He stumbled and fell to the ground under the blow. He was completely lost as she stepped forward and stood over him, keeping him on the ground.

"Do you ever think before you act?! I am honestly at a loss for words in the face of your stupidity, what if it hadn't worked? Toothless wouldn't have had time to reach you before you fell and killed yourself, and neither could I with no warning! How do you think we would've felt if you'd fallen and broken your body against the waves below because you didn't see fit to say 'oh, Astrid, by the way, I plan to throw myself off my dragon like some possessed mad man today.'" She continued to rant for a few more minutes, her anger fading into concern that she refused to acknowledge, she was far too mad to be worried about him right now, even if she was becoming painfully aware of how swollen and red his cheek was. He took her reprimand like the smart viking she knew him to be, head down, nodding, and apologizing in all the right places. Eventually she ran out of things to say, but not before insinuating that someone somewhere in his family line had mated with a troll, and consumed feted rat meat to produce his pure unadulterated idiocy. Finally when she fell silent and he was getting ready to stand and formulate some form of response she reached down and jerked him upright by the arm.

Suddenly face to face with Astrid and her distractedly blue eyes he had nothing to say, the longer they looked at each other the more Hiccup felt the need to fill the silence. A grin split his face, "Huh, Astrid Hofferson, the mighty Astrid Hofferson was worried ab-" She cocked her fist back again, narrowing her eyes dangerously and he had the common sense to swallow the rest of the sentence.

"Say it and I'll give you a matching potato for a cheek," she warned icily, he nodded sheepishly and cast his eyes to the grass between them. They widened to the size of dinner plates as she gripped the seem of his wool vest and jerked him forward into her arms, holding him tightly to her. "Don't do that again." She warned quietly into his shoulder.

"But I spent so long on this flight suit!" He complained, his nasally protest trying her nerves.

"Not that stupid!" She growled. "You scared me..." Hiccup had the sense to remain silent, wrapping his arms around her back and resting his uninjured cheek against her hair.

"I'm sorry."

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**AN:** Alright, there's the first installment. I'm not happy with the ending but it's better than stringing it out any longer. I imagine this to take place a couple years after the first movie, I'm using that to justify Astrid's definite OOCness. Obviously she cares enough for him by now to be concerned for his safety but Astrid will never be the concerned girlfriend that other fandoms provide us with, but I think that's why we love her so much.


	2. First Snow

First Snow

Winter was officially falling over Berk, a massive storm buried the village and raged uninterrupted for two days before dawn finally broke on clear skies that morning. Astrid trudged through the snow toward the forge, trusty ax in hand. Breakfast had been hurried, her younger brother eager to get out and see his friends after the _eternity_ he'd spent cooped up with his parents and older sibling. Astrid left soon after she finished eating as well, hefting her ax at the door and telling her parents over her shoulder that she was going to train. She didn't head immediately for the woods, lingering for a second at the base of her steps before turning and making way toward her destination.

The Forge was already up and running as she followed the bend in the road and laid eyes on the building. Smoke trailed up into the air from the chimney and a soft red glow emanated from the windows. Gobber's back was to her when she made it to the door, bent over the fire pit and jabbing at the burning logs as he tried to get a good bed of coals going. "Thor's beard!" he exclaimed as he turned, red hot poker hand swinging dangerously close to her face. "Don' be doin' tha lass!" He admonished and she arranged her features into a satisfactorily apologetic countenance.

"Sorry Gobber, is Hiccup here?" He cracked a grin at her question and she averted her eyes, fighting a ridiculous blush that had no business being on her face.

"Aye, in his workshop," He gestured with his good hand to the alcove behind him, she really wanted to punch the suggestive leer off his face but reigned it in and stepped around him toward the room.

"Astrid!" Hiccup jumped when she leaned against the door frame and rapped her knuckles against the wood. The small metal contraption in his hand flew across the desk in his shock, sending detailed schematics fluttering to the floor. The sight brought a small smile to her face, at least some things never changed. "What are you doing here?" Toothless poked his head up from its perch on his front paws, eyeing her curiously with his head tilted to the side.

"Came to get my ax sharpened now that the snows let up." She sauntered into the room, falling onto the bench beside him. He seemed at a total loss for what to do in her presence, a flush creeping up his neck as he stooped over to collect the papers on the floor. You'd think after saving the village and personally leading a revolution that changed the lives of every viking on Berk he would be a little more confident, but it was not so. Astrid liked that he hadn't changed much from the awkward, bumbling, Hiccup she'd grown up with. He took the ax from her extended hand and looked at it with a critical eye, running his thumb down the length of the blade with tentative pressure.

"Your ax doesn't need to be sharpened..." His brown furrowed slightly as he continued to look over the blade, rich emerald eyes narrowed in focus. He was decidedly less awkward in the forge, nimble and sure of himself as he inspected the ax.

"I was in the woods earlier and noticed that it wasn't cutting into trees like it should, can you just run it over the whetstone for me?" she lied, giving him a small smile as he turned to look at her. He blushed and turned quickly back to the weapon and the sight warmed her heart a little. Not long ago she'd been dabbing a cool rag at his pale forehead while he fought off the infection in his leg, it was hard to imagine this Hiccup bustling around his workshop to sharpen her ax was the same boy who'd been on death's doorstep a little over a month ago. She remembered, and based on the way Stoick and Gobber acted around him they remembered too, just how close they were to losing him.

"All done," Astrid blinked and turned her head to the extended handle of her ax presented to her, unaware she'd been staring into the shadowy corner of the shop for gods knew how long. She heard Stormfly's squawk from outside and reached out and took the weapon.

"Thanks Hiccup, I'll see you in the Great Hall for lunch?" He stared at her dumbfounded even though they'd eaten together in the Hall all week leading up to the storm.

"Uh, yeah, definitely! I'll be there, eating, and I'll see you... eating as well-" She cut him off with a quick kiss on the cheek that left him frozen in place, hands half raised in a shrug and mouth slack in mid sentence. She flashed him a shy grin as she turned tail and fled the shop, passing a cackling Gobber that had been watching the whole encounter from his anvil.

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**AN:** A really short scene that takes place not long after Hiccup wakes up at the end of the first movie. I imagine Astrid would be the more forward one in their relationship, especially early on, Hiccup probably wouldn't even catch on to the fact that they're dating for like a year. Requests welcome, i have a couple ideas in my head but after that I'm mostly writing these when I hit a wall with the longer stories I have in the works.


	3. First Drink

First Drink

Hiccup laughed loudly with his peers and fellow vikings at Snotlout's filthy joke, their combined voices rising in a crescendo. The spring had finally arrived and they were burning through the remainder of their winter supplies for the Planters Festival, commemorating the beginning of the farming season. It was the first festival Hiccup could remember enjoying, usually he only stuck around long enough for his dad to get distracted and then slipped away to the forge or forest. It was also, coincidentally, the first time he'd drank during the festivities. Alcohol was something that was always in his life, but never a part of it. Were he sober he would marvel at the difference in his state of mind, taking stock of all the cognitive distortions, but tonight he was drunk. Drunk and completely unaware that Astrid was _not_ happy about it. She sat next to him at one of the Great Hall's massive tables, surrounded by their friends who were all decidedly more intoxicated than her. Ever since Snoggletog two years past she was cautious with the strong winter mead they kept stocked in the Hall, preferring to sip it casually and build her way up slowly.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, unnoticed, as her friends all gasped in shock while Hiccup regaled them with stories of riding Toothless. Some of the dragons, Toothless and Stormfly included, had been let in to join the party but most remained outside where the feeding troughs had been topped off for them. She didn't know why she was so annoyed, the band was playing good music, the food was hot and savory, she was with her friends. The longer she sat there the more irritable she got.

"Tell us the one about when you almost flew into a Timberjack." Her jaw clenched and she glared at Ruffnut who was staring dreamily across the table at her boyfriend, chin propped up on her palm, a drunken smile on her face. She felt a strong and satisfying desire to reach over and knock her head off its perch. Horror, abrupt and _strong_, burst forth in her when she realized that she was jealous. All night she'd been simmering as people flocked to their table to greet Hiccup, coming closer to over boiling with each new and unwanted guest. At first he'd been confused and slightly terrified but the more he drank the more excited he became to talk to the newcomers. She hadn't even realized she was in a bad mood until their friends had joined them at their table and stemmed the flow of vikings. She wasn't jealous of the attention he was getting, a deplorable but forgivable feeling stemming from being the best at everything her whole life. She was jealous of the attention he was giving, a pathetic and disgusting feeling she condemned other women for.

She stood from the table suddenly, staggering slightly before she found sound footing and halting the conversation at the table. She heard Hiccup call her name but ignored it as she headed for the large double doors. The cool air was refreshing and cleared her head slightly, she'd drank more than she thought. She sighed as she heard the doors open behind her and Hiccup stepped out into the night with her. He swayed on his feet and against her will she glanced down at his prosthetic concerned, watching him out of the corner of her eye in case he was going to fall.

"You okay?" He sounded a lot less drunk than he did at the table, looking at her with a gentle crease in his brow. His eyes gazed at her with unmasked affection, so much darker than they usually were, in the dim early night light.

"I'm fine." She was proud of how strong her voice sounded, a determined set to her brow, she was going to strangle this ridiculous _feeling_ through the force of sheer will. He cocked an eyebrow at her tone, brow furrowing even more and she regretted being so harsh. "Just clearing my head, the smoke bothers me." It wasn't a total lie, the heavy smoke some of the vikings produced with their pipes did have a tendency to give her a headache, it just wasn't the truth. Either way it seemed to mollify him, he leaned dangerously over the step and dropped into a seated position at the top of the stairs to look out over the village. She reluctantly joined him after a moment of deliberation, feeling better when he leaned against her, even if it may have only been to steady himself.

The village was calm, the sounds of the Great Hall largely muffled by the thick wood of its doors, the moon was but a sliver in the sky, casting almost no light on the streets laid out beneath them. "I can't believe its been six months since we found peace with the dragons." Had it really? She did the math in her head, they were three months past Snoggletog and Hiccup had finally broke his fever two months before that. It had. Where had the time gone? "Thanks for convincing me to come. I had fun." She looked at him questioningly.

"The nights far from over." She informed him, they were barely done with the feast, most of the adults in there weren't even drunk yet.

"It is for me, I think." he looked over at her, their eyes level in his slouched position, "I'm really drunk Astrid." She couldn't help the smile that found its way onto her face at his admission, as if he were telling her a secret no one knew.

"I know," she told him, grin making its way into her voice as well. He didn't respond, eyes transfixed on her lips, she blushed slightly as the silence stretched just a little too far. He leaned in quickly and pressed his lips to hers and her eyes flew open in shock. It was the first time Hiccup had ever initiated a kiss between them, it was also the longest kiss they'd ever shared. Her eyes fell closed of their own accord, her body leaning in to his and applying more pressure to his lips. It was a passionate and scorching kiss, but innocent and close-mouthed. When she pulled away her arms were around his neck and his hands rested on her hips, they just stared at each other for a second with dumb smiles on their face. She reached up a hand and swatted the back of his head. "That's for getting drunk and ignoring me all night," She told him with a fake glare and swallowed his protests in another kiss.

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**AN:** Wow, I posted the first two chapters around midnight and got hundreds of views in the span of like two hours. I'm a little shocked at the amount of traffic HTTYD is producing, shocked but excited. As of right now there's no end in sight to the stream of oneshots that are spawning in my head so keep an eye out and thanks to those that favorited and followed.


	4. First Step

First Step

A sweat was beginning to break out across Hiccups forehead, the knuckles of his right hand white as he gripped the bedpost. Astrid looked on in angry disapproval, arms crossed, scowl marring her features. "You shouldn't be doing this now, its too soon." Her tone made it clear she was not to be messed with, the one her peers knew well and avoided often. Hiccup ignored her, never failing to infuriate her at the worst times.

"Both Gobber and Gothi say I can start walking,_should_ start walking." He defended feebly, taking a few steadying breaths and trying again. He succeeded this time in pushing himself up off the bed, he stood precariously on the new metal and wood contraption that was his left foot.

"Your fever only just broke a week ago!" She exclaimed, stepping closer to him and preparing to push him back onto the bed. He was looking much better than the Hiccup she'd grown accustomed to over the past month, still pale but no longer sickly looking and emaciated. He had a little color in his cheeks and a scrap of meat on his bones again. When he looked at her in determination his eyes were their normal emerald green, not the dull fever clouded imitation they had been. She could see all this, but still regarded him with the same cautious weariness she had the whole time he'd fought for his life against the infection.

"I have to do this," he said quietly and his words halted her plans to return him to his bed forcefully. He took an uneasy step, transferring his weight to his left leg, and gasped as his knee buckled and he fell into her. His hands landed on her shoulders and she caught him at the waist, taking most of the weight off his feet. They stood that way for a few seconds, Astrid uncomfortably distracted by the soft sound of his panting breaths next to her ear. "It hurts." He whispered so softly she almost missed it. The two words contained all of his frustration and fear, a culmination of nearly two months of sickness and recovery. Astrid knew his fears were groundless, this was Hiccup, a missing foot wasn't going to keep him down. The thought of him not riding toothless, not hammering away in the forge, not blushing and choking on his words after she pressed a quick kiss to his cheek was as laughable as it as horrible. She had no way of conveying her conviction to him, just a week ago she'd still been unsure if he ever would be okay again, the memory was still a fresh wound in her chest.

She could not fight him, not when he was so determined to do this, she understood. When her broken arm had finally healed she spent two painful weeks in the forest throwing her ax at trees until she was confident she could still do it. She couldn't imagine feeling that way about _walking_. So she wound an arm around his waist and stepped up beside him, holding up his left side as best she could. "Then lets do this." The look he gave her both warmed her heart and broke it, it only lasted a second but the gratitude and affection mixed with something else, deeper and undefinable, reassured her that she was doing the right thing. Even if she didn't like it. His next step was much more successful, his hand on her shoulder tightening slightly but his leg holding out. He breathed a shaky sigh of relief. "There, are we done with this?" He nodded, the self satisfied glint in his eye was adorable, but she would take that thought to her grave.

She helped him back to the bed and his weight fell off her as he collapsed onto the furs. "Thanks Astrid... for everything." She met his eyes, they were somber and dark, not the eyes of a fourteen year old. Not Hiccup's eyes. She reached out, willing to do anything to erase that haunted look from his face, and punched his shoulder too gently.

"That's for being stupid and trying to walk." She avoided his gaze, staring at the candle's flame on his bedside table. She ducked down and pressed a kiss to his cheek, it was the third time she'd done it since he'd awoke and even now it brought a burning blush to both their faces.

"What was that for?" He asked, voice shaky and too high pitched.

"... That was because I wanted to."

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**AN: **There'll probably be a couple little scenes involving Hiccup's recovery after the Red Death, namely because I feel like that was a very defining moment in their relationship. I like to think that Astrid is just as embarrassed by their intimacy as he is, just much more forthright and honest with herself about what she desires, and that's why in these early chapters she's being affectionate AND blushy. Both traits not associated with Astrid Hofferson.


	5. First Place

First Place

Hiccup leaned down in his seat, letting the wind slip over his helmet and down his back. He banked hard to the right, his knee skimmed across the road at the apex of the turn and then he was straightening out and flying down the asphalt. He threw a glance over his shoulder as he hit the straight away, looking back at Astrid as she entered the turn, he could picture her determined glare perfectly through her tinted visor as it fixed on his back. She came out of the turn and opened the throttle wide, quickly closing the distance between them. He let her approach, a small small forming on his face, he looked down at his solid black motorcycle. "Let's do this bud," he whispered to no one in particular and kicked it down a gear, opening the throttle. The front end lifted off the ground as the RPMs shot near the red and he pulled away quickly, passing the finish line in a wheelie with a fist in the air. He hit the brakes, touching the wheel back to the ground and coasting to a stop. Astrid pulled up next to him and ripped off her helmet, not even bothering to turn off her bike. She kicked her kickstand down furiously and jumped off the motorcycle stomping over to him.

"We're going again!" he flipped up the visor on his helmet and quirked an eyebrow at her.

"We've done this three times already, you just need to practice more." He was gloating, he knew it wasn't wise when dealing with Astrid but he was high off repeated victory. Her teeth snapped together and her gaze devolved into a murderous glare as the others roared across the finish line. Snotlout in the lead with Ruff and Tuff neck and neck just behind him, Fishlegs bringing up the rear by a considerable amount.

"We're going again Haddock. I _know_ I can beat you." No one could beat him, nothing was faster than him, but he wasn't about to tell her that. Cockiness aside, there was a line one didn't cross if they wanted walk away unscathed.

"Ha! I won!" Snotlout jumped off his bike and pointed a victorious finger at Tuff.

"You got third place idiot." His sister dead panned, too interested in the showdown going on between Hiccup and Astrid.

"They don't count, they're always first, " Snotlout dismissed, strutting over to the pit to get a drink.

"Alright, alright, we'll go again. But this time it's just me and you, and no matter what happens we're done for the day." Astrid debated for a second on whether or not to accept his terms, apparently agreeing as she jammed her head back into her helmet and returned to her blue bike. "And remember what I said! Leave your anger on the track!" She peeled away from him back to the starting line, he chuckled to himself and started his bike back up, the low purr a familiar friend. He was _so _sleeping on the couch tonight, but it was worth it. There was something intoxicating about the angry flush and steely glint in her eyes every time he flew past her on a straight stretch of road that made it worth dealing with an angry Astrid. For the fourth time that day he hung back, hovering around her back wheel through the turns and on the final stretch took off leaving her in his dust. This time she actually threw her helmet at him in rage, he ducked it with a smile on his face and depressed his kickstand as she stormed off the track toward the pit. So worth it.

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There's a link to what Hiccup's motorcycle looks like in my profile, check it out if interested.

**AN: **So quite a different one for you today folks. This chapter actually kind of coincides with a longer story I'm working on right now. It's a high school (and beyond) AU in which Hiccup rides a motorcycle (Toothless). This wouldn't fit in with the actual story for various reasons so really its like a spiritual companion fic. Mostly I'm just trying to see if anyone is interested in reading about Motorcycle!Hiccup. So let me know what you think.


	6. First Encounter

**AN:** This one goes out to Mark, who gave me a couple good suggestions including young Astrid and Hiccup.

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First Encounter

Astrid squatted a little down river from her mother, scrubbing furiously at a pair of socks under the cold water's surface. Most of the village wives were in a huddle a few feet away, gossiping about upcoming marriages and people sleeping with other people, Astrid couldn't be bothered to listen as she dedicated herself to her task. It was a simple pile of socks, her first chore, and she was determined to do it to the fullest extent of her ability. Further from the stream, on the grassy hills leading toward the sheep farms, she recognized the other kids her age, the two blonde twins and the brunette boys playing tug of war with a dirty tunic. The shorter brown haired boy was winning on account of the twins apparent incapability to work as a team. She looked toward the group of women, the other boy her age was hugging his mother's skirts and watching the other kids tentatively. She returned her focus to her task and lathered another pair of socks with the lye soap wedge her mother had given her.

She carried the pile haphazardly against her chest when she finished, bringing the wet linens to her mother and dropping them on the cleaned pile at her side. "All done Astrid?" Her mother paused briefly in her scrubbing of a pair of Papa's pants to inspect her work. She beamed when her mother congratulated her performance. "You can go play with your friends now, I'll be done with this lot within the hour." She turned and looked toward the other kids, they were not her friends yet, she'd spent but a few sunny afternoons playing in the fields with them before she was old enough to contribute to the washing. They were likable but she found their constant bickering tiring, she turned the other way to follow the stream as it curved away from the village and toward the woods.

"I'm going to go exploring." She declared, eyes locked on the shadowy depths of the forest.

"Stay where I can see you!" Her mother called after her but she was already on her way, hugging close to the bank and carefully placing her feet on the slick rocks. She tested herself as she scrabbled up the gradual incline, trying to advance as quickly as possible, trying to slip less and less the higher she climbed. She was quick for her age, and graceful as well, her little body easy to throw up the hill with just emerging lithe muscle. Before long the village women were a considerable distance below her, and she was cresting the hill just behind the chiefs house, a few dozen feet away from the first trees. A lone figure came into view along the rise, until she leveled out and found that a small boy was hunched by the river doing his own chores. She frowned at the sight, peering around for his mother, surely she wasn't down with the others or else he wouldn't be so far away.

His expression amused her, a deep furrow creasing his brow above comically large green eyes as he tried, incorrectly, to scrub smudges from a small green tunic. He didn't pause in his work as she approached, and while she didn't sneak up on him she didn't announce her presence either. She stood a few feet away before he leaned back to push errant bronze hairs off his sweaty forehead, he caught sight of her from the corner of his eye and jumped so bad he almost fell into the river.

"You're doing it wrong," she pointed out by way of greeting, ignoring his fright and closing the remaining distance between them until she stood above him.

"I- What?" He still seemed slightly panicked, his voice a little higher than it should be.

"You've got to get a bunch of soap on it before you scrub it in the water." She dropped down next to him and grabbed another shirt, she'd never washed anything other than socks but it couldn't be that different.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" he hadn't started working again even though she'd already submerged the shirt and began working the material under her fingers to ensure it got evenly soaked.

"I'm Astrid. Who are you?" She had definitely never seen this boy before, and she'd been accompanying her mother on wash days since spring.

"My name is Hiccup." She giggled softly at herself, unaware of the way his face fell in response.

"I have a kitty named Hiccup, we called him that because he was the smallest of all his siblings, why did you parents name you that?"

"I don't know, to scare away trolls?" She laughed again, louder this time, and it did not disappoint him like it had before. He cracked a crooked grin of his own, leaning away from his work to watch her.

"Trolls don't exist." She said it simply, as if explaining that the sky was blue or the snow white.

"You don't know that for sure, you've just never seen one." Astrid quirked a little eyebrow at his response, a condescending disbelief clear on her face.

"Have you?"

"Well, no, but that doesn't mean they aren't there, Gobber says they steal our socks." Who in Thor's beard is Gobber? She shook the thought from her head and turned back to the shirt that sat sopping and discarded on the bank. She leaned over and snatched his soap from in front of him, folding it in the fabric and working up a good lather of bubbles that she could spread across the material.

"How come I've never seen you on wash day before? All the moms wash their clothes today." She didn't look at him while she spoke, solely focused on her task as if it were her own laundry she washed.

"I just wash my clothes when they need to be washed." If his tone was sullen she didn't notice, too distracted with dipping the cloth back beneath the surface and scrubbing it vigorously.

"Where's your mum?" She finally responded once the tunic was clean and the water around her saturated with the milky suds, on their way down stream.

"I don't have a mom." That caught her attention, she turned with a frown to look at him, he was looking down into the depths of the stream, hardly working on pants he held there.

"Of course you do. Everyone has a Mum, and a Papa." She was seriously beginning to question this boy's intelligence. Not knowing how to wash clothes was one thing, she didn't until this morning, but not knowing that you had parents? How do you even forget that?

"I don't," She was a little taken aback by his tone of voice, he sounded so sad and angry, she took in his posture. His shoulders hunched, hands closed into fists around the fabric under the water, she couldn't see his face very well from her angle just one furrowed red-brown eyebrow. She found herself unable to defend her statement, taken aback by the boy's sudden change in demeanor. "She got killed by the dragons, a long time ago."

Killed by dragons? She'd never seen a dragon, just heard about them. She's heard them, when her father and mother left the house at nights for raids, monstrous roars that shook the house and stilled her heart with fear. She's seen the light of their fires through her windows, a violent orange blaze that lit the whole house for a split second, but she'd never had the courage to approach the window and look for herself. She's heard the stories of friends and family facing and falling before them, but never seen one. "So where's your Papa?"  
"He's busy, running Berk." He seemed less bitter about this, more resigned and understanding. Astrid didn't know what to say to him. His life was so different than the one she knew, and she so young, she couldn't comprehend the world he lived in. They finished the washing relatively quickly after all the conversing was done, by the time the last sock was sitting with its brethren she had all but forgotten about the seriousness of the last few minutes. She looked down the hill toward the other villagers, the women were no longer washing, they stood in a huddle on the bank. From the hilltop she could just make out their laughter and discussion, the meaning of it all lost to the wind.

"Next week I'll bring my clothes up here and we can wash them together again." She said brightly, perking up at the idea and turning back to him. He blinked at her, shock clear on his face, but the beginnings of a smile were already tugging at his features as he responded.

"Yeah, that sounds fun." She smiled back at him as her mother called her name, she turned to see her mother looking up to her, hand cupped around her mouth. She began gathering the family's laundry and Astrid turned back to her new friend.

"I'll see you later Hiccup." He waved belatedly as she turned and stumbled down the hill with all the grace she'd clambered up with.

"Bye... Astrid."

* * *

**AN:** To the guest who asked me to do a follow up of the motorcycle chapter, it is on the way, i just want to do it right and it's just not wanting to be written. So I wrote the one that would come out, and I really meant to get this done sooner, but i started a new job and it's full time doing manual labor things and I've been dead every night by the time i get home, I'm getting the hang of it and plan to spend a week writing a oneshot, then post it on my days off, so expect weekly updates. The day might just vary.

I like the way this chapter came out, writing with such young characters is a bit of a challenge, and it certainly limits your ability to manipulate them, but its refreshing in its simplicity. Children don't think about complex things like the feelings and experiences of others, they live in their own moment, and it makes for a some good introspection. At least that's what I was going for, there's a very real possibility I was just way too vague and none of you picked up on that at all, if so I'm sorry about the shallow characters and hollow dialogue. Until next time, enjoy.


	7. First Breath

**Disclaimer:** The dialogue in the beginning of this belongs solely to Dreamworks. The only difference being a minor altercation in who says what.

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First Breath

"I'm sorry dad. I'm not the chief you wanted me to be, and I'm not the peacekeeper I thought I was. I … Don't know." Astrid sighed to herself, shaking her head and looking down to the bleak rocky shore. It pained her to see him so lost. It frustrated her that she could think of nothing to say to him. No way to help.

"You came early into this world." She looked up as the new woman, Hiccup's mother, spoke. "You were such a wee thing. So frail and so fragile. I feared that you wouldn't make it. But your father, he never doubted. He always said you would become the strongest of them all. And he was right. You have the heart of a chief and the soul of a dragon. Only you can bring our worlds together. That is who you are, son." She watched Hiccup's face closely as his mother spoke to him, hoping. Perhaps she could console him, mending the death of a parent with the addition of another. Maybe that's what he needed. The terrifying lost look in his eyes hardened slightly, the words bolstering a new resolve into them. A sense of purpose again. It removed a physical weight from her heart, an oppressive unease the likes of which she hadn't felt since he was still wracked with fever, in bed and struggling against the clutches of Valhalla. She did not even have the sense of mind to fear the strength with which his anguish affected her, how much she depended on a level and constant Hiccup in her life. She sometimes danced around the thoughts, the doubts and insecurities that had never seen the light of day through force of sheer will. The idea that she needed him. It was not one she admitted to, not something that she was comfortable acknowledging . Yet it was true.

"I uh... I was so afraid of becoming my dad. Mostly because I thought I never could." It took her breath away, hearing him speak. He was quiet, and pain was still traceable in his voice, but it was Hiccup, he was okay. "How do you become someone that great, that brave, that selfless?" She took the first easy breath of the day, stepping forward to his mother's side. His eyes met hers and he looked so scared, pleading without purpose. Unaware of what he needed, what to do.

"I guess you can only try." She said softly, raising a hand and placing it on the worn leather armor over his heart. "Your answers lie within, Hiccup." His gaze fell down to her hand, shoulders sagging slightly, he looked so defeated. He raised a hand and placed it over hers, still looking down at where their skin met. She was not worried anymore. She had found her sense of purpose, a Viking was fine as long as it had a goal. A plan. She knew what she had to do, for him. For herself. For all of Berk. She would get him through this, because he needed _her_. Because she would not lose the Hiccup she knew and loved. Because she needed him.

"A chief protects his own." He whispered it aloud, but only to himself. The foggy beach swallowing the words forever so that only those present would ever know of them. It sent goose bumps down her arms, it was devoid of the hopelessness and pain of the day. She recognized the words, while Stoick prepared the village for war and Hiccup tried to stop him. She knew the meaning, the unspoken agreement he'd made with his dead father. He had found what he was looking for, finally listened to what his heart was telling him. Finally ready to be what he was always meant to be. "We're going back." She would follow him, not just because she loved him, but because he was Hiccup. He lead the Dragons to Berk, he saved the Village from the Red Death, he was their Chief. He was her Chief.

* * *

**AN:** Sorry this is so short, I'm just posting it because its my day off and I'm having trouble finishing the longer ones that are in progress right now. I wrote this immediately after the last chapter and planned to post it alongside another chapter, as i kind of bonus scene but i want to get something up for you guys before i go back to work.

I'm proud of this, it's a step back toward how i used to write in high school. I try to avoid too much introspection nowadays because its hard to write a full length story like this, but I am better at this sort of intensive character study that i am a flowing plot.


	8. First Role

First Role

Astrid sat in their bedroom, drumming her fingers listlessly against her thigh in agitation, listening to the soft stick of her fingers against the leather that wrapped her legs. The outfit was hardly comfortable, the leather leggings soft and supple but unnecessarily tight and plastered with a light sheen of sweat to every inch of her legs. By contrast the tunic was loose, but itchy, the woolen material scratching against her bare skin, without any underclothes to protect her. She huffed a sigh for what felt like the fifth time that minute and leaned to look out the door into the hallway.

Not for the first time she questioned the sanity of what she was doing, the ill-fated conversation with Ruff swimming again to the forefront of her mind. At the time her friend's suggestion had been laughable, and laugh she had, dismissing the idea first as something that people didn't actually do. Some odd sexual transgression that they used in TV shows as a source of quirky comedy. Ruffnut shot that down with a quick trip to her closet where she had not one but four costumes that she recognized from her boyfriend's corny sci-fi shows. Then she tried to say that Hiccup wouldn't be interested, he paid more attention to her ass in running shorts and jeans than skirts and lingerie again Ruffnut shot that down. This time by example, much to Astrid's annoyance. The twenty seconds it took for her to prance across the house and out the back door in a skanky 'school girl' outfit from some anime had both their boyfriends choking on their own tongues. Hiccup had spent a very confused night sleeping on the couch after that.

Finally, resigned to her fate and mostly refusing to lose to Ruff, Astrid hit the internet in search of something that Hiccup would like that she /would/ wear. It was not easy. She flat out refused to wear anything from any show that came out of Japan. Ever. Ruff might be able to pull it off, all long limbs and ample curves, but it wasn't until two Sundays ago, when the four of them sat down to watch the new episode of Game of Thrones that she knew what she would do. Of all the shows she'd been subjected to in the four years they'd been dating this was by far her favorite. Less far-fetched interplanetary physics and more brutal battles and hot shirtless men. She looked down at herself again, internally disgusted with how self conscious she was. Of all the slutty prostitutes and regal ladies she could have dressed up as she chose the nine year old girl that dressed as a boy and traveled the world hunting and killing her enemies. At the time it seemed like the perfect choice, Arya was a bad ass no nonsense girl, much like herself. But the more she thought on it the more she realized that the point of this wasn't to be herself, the point was in fact the exact opposite.

She'd just gotten up, determined to strip out of the ridiculous costume and stuff it in the back of the closet, when she heard the door to the garage open and close forcefully. Not quite a slam, but enough to let her know that his project was not going well.

"Astrid?" She knew he'd seen her before she could duck behind the door frame, with a final look down at herself and a deep breath she waited. "I didn't know you were back yet, god it is really four thirty already?" He was rambling to himself, getting a glass of water and gulping it down judging from the sounds in the kitchen. She planted her feet and crossed her arms, a grim determination marring her face. This was humiliating, and Ruff would pay dearly when she got home, but for the time being she would have to deal with it. "Anyway I'm done for the day so you can pull your car-" he rounded the corner and froze in the doorway, mouth slowly falling open, eyes widening until she thought dryly that gravity would pull them straight out of his head.

"Lommey and Hot Pie can't know" she bit her lip, nervous and uncertain about how to proceed. He'd yet to speak, still stuck on the spot he'd seen on her, his eyes roving up and down her body. She actually had no idea what her game plan had been once she put the costume on, how did one act when they were role playing in the bedroom? Could she act like someone other than herself while having sex? She didn't think so. But with the silence growing between them she'd acted on instinct, quoting her persona when the blacksmith Gendry found out she was a girl in disguise. It wasn't lost on her than Lommey and Hot Pie drew an uncanny parallel to Ruff and Fish, as well as her very real desire to keep this growing debacle a secret. She was also very aware of the fact that Hiccup had been working on his motorcycle in the garage, and not his school project as she'd thought. Shirtless, grease smudged across his face and chest, and near drenched in sweat he was doing a pretty good job of completing their little reenactment. Finally he moved, shifting his weight on his good leg and blinking once, then twice more in rapid succession as if to make up for lost time. He cleared his throat and finally met her eyes, his were a dark emerald as he spoke, the traces of lust she saw in them giving her courage.

"They won't Arry, not from me." He paused "Is that even your name, or do you have some girl's name?" She pulled her bottom lip in between her teeth, feigning indecision as she grew more comfortable in her role, she could see the bob in his Adam's apple as he gulped. His eyes fixated on her lips.

"Arya, my name is Arya. Of house Stark." He widened his eyes, falling more naturally into character than she had, her eyes narrowed a fraction as her competitive streak kicked in.

"Starks the name of the hand of the king, the one they executed a traitor."

"He was not a traitor! He was my father." He fought a smile as she raised her voice, trying to convey true anger in her defense of her fake father. She was surprised by how mad she would be at him if he ruined this right now, but ever committed to his fandom he remained strong.

"Of course milady, I'm sorry." He blinked over exaggeratedly looking around the room and quickly dropped to one knee. "And forgive my rudeness on our journey milady."

Astrid, seeing her chance, narrowed her eyes playfully at him and stepped forward grinding out "I'm /not/ a lady." He looked as if he was about to say something so she stood over him, placing her hands in his shoulders. "Stand up Gendry," she layered her tone with exasperation perfectly in her opinion, hardly even finding it odd to use another's name in place of her boyfriend's by this point.

"Yes milady," he responded as he did so, and she had to force the peeved look onto her face because she found she rather liked this pet name he'd adopted, as he stood she slid her hands off his shoulders and down on his chest. She didn't meet his immediately, looking at the fading sheen of sweat that coated his bare skin and swiping at a spot of grease with her thumb. Finally, when she couldn't look at his chest any longer and she was about ready to get to the fun part, she cast her head up to meet his gaze.

She had just enough time to recognize the hungry look he'd had earlier before he crushed his lips to hers, pulling her body close to his. The kiss possessed a level of passion, a roughness, that Hiccup never brought to the table; as was good because Astrid normally wouldn't appreciate this crude manhandling she didn't think. Arya and Gendry would have it no other way. He lifted her just enough to walk her backwards toward the bed, breaking the kiss when her calves found the mattress just long enough to push her down and fall on top of her, trapping her beneath him. Their lips met again but slower as he focused his attention on the rest of her, one hand sliding beneath her tunic to glide along her hip and cup her waistline, his knees were planted on either side of her, his hips pressing down into hers. He began to grind into her with his very much erect member, the rhythm matching the movements of their lips and when his other hand found her unbound breast beneath the rough shirt she moaned deliciously into his mouth.

"Milady, i should stop, this isn't proper." His voice was low and gravely, words stolen between kisses. Her hands trailed up his back, fingertips tracing the grooves of his muscles until one hand cupped the back of his neck. She fisted the soft hairs there and pulled his head back to stare him down.

"Do /not/ stop, your lady commands it." His only response was to pull both his his hands back from their homes on her body. She wanted to growl and demand he return them but all that escaped was a whimper, it wasn't a second though before his fingers found their way under the edge of her leggings and with one jerk the leather was stripped free down to her knees. She could see the want as clear as day on his face, this would not be a slow and sensual love making and the thought filled her with a burning desire of her own. When he stepped back to unfasten his belt and drop his pants she caught his hips in her legs, sliding down to the edge of the bed and sitting up to do it herself. She hooked her thumbs in his underwear as well and freed him with one tug, there would be no foreplay tonight. Her hand found him as she sucked and bit on the soft skin below his chin, she pumped him once as his hands slid down to her hips and held her in a bruising grip and then she lined him up with her aching entrance. He slid easily into her, both moaning as he lowered them to the bed and sunk into her to the hilt. He stopped there for a minute, his head resting against her chest until she grew itchy with desire and began rocking her hips up against him. He groaned and matched her small movements with his own, pulling out an inch and then pushing quickly back in causing her toes to curl with the fullness he gave her. His small movements quickly fell away to long powerful thrusts, his hands clamped around her waist, pulling her into him. Hot pressure was building in her, sooner than normal her mind began to get fuzzy, the world around her reducing down to the heat lancing into her core with every thrust. The last remaining cognizant sector of her brain knew he was close too, could feel it in the trembling of his hands against her skin and the fevered frenzy of his rhythm above her.

"Ast-" he started to moan but she cut him off, reaching for his shoulders, arms, back, anything that she could dig her nails into and anchor him to her.

"Gendry" her whispered whine was quiet and pleading, breathed into his ear as his head came down with the apex of his thrust buried within her deepest reaches and it was enough to push him over the edge. He froze with their hips pressed together, his arms going slack and his sweat slicked forehead falling to her chest. She could feel him jump within her as he poured his seed out and the sensation broke the dam in her abdomen, she clenched around him. Clenched every muscle in her body it seemed as her legs clung to his body her fists in his hair, long after the waves of her orgasm had ebbed away they sat entangled in each other. Every inch of her was tired and trembling, her heart hammering a crazed tattoo against his head.

"Astrid... what-" he seemed at a loss for words, the sight of him red faced and dazed brought a small giggle to her lips.

"Someone told me it was fun, did you not think so?" She adopted a false concern, furrowing her brow at him in worry. He couldn't form words fast enough to say otherwise, instead continuing to stare at her with a half open mouth.

"No! No, yes! That's not- I think... where did you get this costume?" He was moving again, separating from her sweaty body and collapsing on the bed next to her. Half his body still hung to the ground with his height but she paid no mind, throwing a leg across his lap and turning into his side.

"The internet," she said dismissively, tugging his arm out from under his head so she could rest hers on his shoulder.

"Does this mean you'll come to Comic Con with me this year?" Of all the things her boyfriend could've asked her in that moment he choose this question. Not that she was all that surprised, or adverse to the idea. Images of him dressed truly as a Westerosi blacksmith, and the two of them repeating the days performance in various inappropriate places at the worlds largest nerd convention flashed through her head. "You'll have to get a wig though," he said thoughtfully after she didn't respond in a timely manner, she could practically see the plans already forming in his head, so very different from her own.

"We'll see," she said hesitantly, though she was fairly certain she would be in attendance. If only to see Fishlegs dressed as Samwell Tarly.

* * *

**AN:** So its been a while i know, sorry. I've been going though stressful times, moving into a new apartment with barely enough money to survive. Anyway, this idea came to me because in the last monthish since i updated I've become obsessed with Game of Thrones. When i thought of this it started as a funny little scene, but i quickly realized the Hiccup is also a blacksmith, and then i thought about the characters for a few seconds and decided there was way too much in common to not write this. I worry that nobody gets it because i don't know how many HTTYD readers are going to be interested in GoT. So this is my first lemon in... years, like, six years. Go easy on me please.


	9. Second Encounter

**AN:** This is a continuation of Chapter 6, First Encounter.

* * *

Second Encounter

The freezing of Fearless Finn Hofferson changed a lot for Astrid. She was just on the cusp of adolescence, beginning to understand herself and her family's placement in the village when everything changed. Suddenly her interactions with the people of Berk were altered, heavily. They wouldn't meet her eyes, always spoke in piteous voices and actively avoided talking about her once popular uncle. Her parent's changed too, her father more tired, less kind, after a long day working. Her mother more strict and serious whenever teaching her or doing chores. She learned quickly that the Hoffersons were under observation, the whole village waiting to see how they would redeem themselves. She didn't have to be told by her parents that it was her job to do so, she gave herself that burden.

She was excited the morning her mother leveled her with a serious look at breakfast, she knew what was coming, she'd heard her parents discussing it after dinner a few weeks ago. Her father seemed more spirited that morning, occasionally catching her eye over his eggs and they shown with something absent so long she could hardly identify it. Hope. "Ye've learned about all ye need fer reading and writing." She began, not tarrying with introductions and getting to the point. The Hofferson way. "Yer maths good too, it's time you start learning ta fight." She couldn't restrain the smile that forced its way onto her face, but even still it was grim and serious, she'd been waiting for this day for two years.

"I know." She could tell her parents were proud of her answer, her father nodded and stood, making the short walk to the counter by the hearth, she noticed for the first time the lump on the table. Something long and misshapen wrapped in cloth.

"This is the ax I learned ta fight with." Her father's voice was gruff, but softer than usual, his eyes were brighter than she could remember them being. "It'll do good fer your size, once you grow into it." It was heavier than she would have thought, but she instantly liked the weight, removing the cloth to inspect the blade. It was jagged from years of use, countless strikes chipping away at the edge, but the metal was strong and free of rust, the wood firm beneath her hands. Most importantly it was hers. "You'll need ta get it sharp." Her father told her, but she didn't look up from the blade. She hefted it to one side, then the other, finding where it fit comfortably in her hands.

"I love it," she said finally, looking up to see the amusement on her parents faces. Breakfast broke up quickly after that, her mother might have spoken about the chores of the day, but whether it was directed at her or her father she couldn't say. Her father did say something about teaching her the basics of war axes when he got back home that night, an offer she immediately agreed to. She hoped he didn't expect her to wait until then to begin practice, but if her parent's knew her at all they knew better.

Eventually there came a time when she could no longer sit and stare at the weapon, her father left for the docks with a kiss on the top of her head and a few words with her mother. She set her newest pride aside and helped clear the dishes from the table and went out back to collect a bucket of snow to wash them. All the while her eyes were drawn to it, the way the candlelight stretched across the smooth curve of it's edge, the size of it on the table. She saw a world of possibilities, she saw the future.

"Oh go on!" Astrid blinked, turning to look at her mother and shocked to find her by the hearth, adding a log to the fire rather than at her side where she'd been last.

"What?"

"You haven't said a word since yer father left, can't go two minutes without checking on it." Excitement build in her chest, hardly believing her mother's words. "I've got a handle on the house work today, go an' swing your ax into some trees." That's exactly what she planned to do.

It was hard work though. The ax was heavy, nothing compared to the wooden toys parents give their children, and within an hour of swing it into tree trunks just inside the forest her whole body ached with exhaustion. She relished in the pain, identifying all the places she hurt and envisioning the muscle that would soon be there. With a final thrust she sunk the ax into the ruff gnarled bark of a massive evergreen, panting and drenched in sweat she leaned against the handle and inspected her work. The blade at its apex was just shy of two inches into the tree, her tentative weight almost enough to pull it free, she glared at it angrily as if she could intimidate it into submission. With a heave she wrenched the blade free and stalked out of the trees, not sure where she was going until she was across the stream and passed the chief's house. She could tell the forge was up and running from across the town, a long tail of smoke trailing out of it's massive chimney. She slowed to a walk as she approached the door. She could see the massive blacksmith hammering at an anvil as she crossed the threshold, the glowing metal flat and curled almost around on itself creating a glowing orange hoop. She tried to figure out what it could be, it fit with no weapon she could think of and had decided it was for a very small wagon wheel by the time he noticed her standing there.

"Wha' tha'?! Who're ye?" Astrid blinked and took a quick step back, more than a little startled by his heavily accented shout. She hefted her ax a little higher in her grip and narrowed her eyes at him.

"Astrid."

He narrowed his eyes at her as she did him, but not aggressively as she intended, he scrutinized her and a small grin cracked his ash blackened face. "Hofferson eh?" He nodded, shocked, and relaxed her stance. "How can I help ye Miss Hofferson?" He tuned and picked up the metal band he'd been shaping with his hand, which she realized belatedly was a pair of tongs, and dunked it in a bucket of water. Steam exploded toward the ceiling, seeming to fill the room for a second before it dispersed.

"I need my ax sharpened." She said, raising the weapon for his inspection and he crossed the room to do so. She looked around the forge as he raised the ax to the light of the forge and turned a craftsman's eye to it. It seemed a mess of clutter, ever inch of wall and most of the table space littered with all manner of metal equipment that made absolutely no sense to her.

"Ye need a new ax, is wot ye need." She furrowed her brow at him, eyes snapping back to attention when he spoke, she reached up and snatched the ax back to her, clutching it possessively.

"My ax is just fine, just dull." He looked on her again with that grin he'd had before, she continued to eye him defiantly holding her ground.

"Well if ye insist." he said lightly, gently taking the ax back, she relinquished it grudgingly, half afraid he would throw it into the fires. "My apprentice could use a li'l practice." She followed him across the small space to an even smaller workshop she had failed to notice in her distraction earlier. "Hiccup, got a project fer ya." Astrid eyes widened in surprise, leaning around the blacksmith to see that Hiccup was indeed the spoken of apprentice. His work space wasn't exactly neat, so much as barren, the desk holding not much more than a sheaf of parchment and a few candles. Other than the bench before the desk was a grindstone that you turned with your feet. He turned to see them and surprise was apparent on his features as well as he caught sight of her.

"Astrid? What are you doing here?"

"Came to get my ax sharpened." She realized then that she hadn't seen him in quite a while, she'd been washing her clothes with him for well over a year maybe even nearing two when her family had fallen to shame. Then she'd started to wash clothes with her mother and the rest of the wives, for nearly six moons now she'd all but forgotten about her closest friend, so caught up in family issues.

She turned and tuned in on the two smiths conversation, not aware that she'd been caught up in her thoughts until she realized she had no idea what they were talking about. "... grind it down to smooth it out?" that was Hiccup, struggling to hold the weapon up as he spoke to his master about it.

"Nay, ye can't do tha', the dips are too deep. Ye'd have ta push the bevel back and tha would change the balance of tha ax too much."

"What if I grind down the face of the ax to lighten it, that would fix the balance."

"Aye it would," she could hear the pride in the smith's voice, see it on his face, as he inspected his apprentice. Hiccup saw it too, and swelled a little bit, a crooked gap-toothed smile adorning his features. Astrid realized she missed her friend, silently vowing to visit the forge more often, she had a reason too anyway. "But why ar'n we gonna do tha'?" Hiccup furrowed his brow in in thought, turning his eyes down to the ax again, it didn't take him long to look up and suggest:

"Because it would weaken the head and break easily?"

"Excellent!" His smile was back, turning to the grindstone without direction. "Make sure an' keep it tha' one plenty wet. Ye'll need a smooth grind with that one around the chips else ye'll make 'em worse." Astrid remained silent as the boy went to work and the smith left him to it. She paid close attention to his work, interested in the process and envious of his already developing skill.

"When did you become a blacksmith's apprentice?" she asked out of the blue, just after her turned the blade to sharpen the other side of the first edge.

"...Two months ago?" he was slow to answer, not looking up from her ax as he carefully slid the blade along the spinning stone. Silence fell again, she felt the need to say something about the time that had passed since they'd seen each other last.

"Sorry about missing wash day these past few... recently." She finally managed awkwardly, he did look up this time, pulling the blade away to pause his progress.

"It's okay Astrid, with your … you've been busy. I understand." She was glad he didn't mention her uncle, and unlike when others avoided the topic she didn't feel judged or the infinitely worse pitied. She found an easy smile on her face that had been absent for a while now.

"Yeah, it has been pretty busy, I got this ax today, father says its time to start learning to fight." Her own pride was showing, her own equivalent to being praised for his thoughts on ax repair. He looked happy for her, but his eyes didn't meet hers, falling back to his work and he started back up again.

"You look like you're already an expert to me," she looked down at her sweaty clothes and too thin arms. The sight upset her slightly, but she knew it was just a matter of time, she was a Hofferson.

"Not yet, but just wait, I'll be beating Snotlout into the ground in no time." They both shared a smile over the image and suddenly her ax was back in her hands. The edge he'd sharpened last was still warm to the touch, and when she pressed her thumb into it she knew that if she were to slide her finger along it it would break the skin. "Thanks Hiccup!" she beamed at him, grabbing him in a quick one armed hug before she dashed out of the shop passed the bemused smith. Her eyes trained on the tree line at the top of the hill.

* * *

**AN:** Im thinking about rearranging the chapters into chronological order and moving the AU to a separate story, making this a bit more series of one shots than collection. Thoughts?


End file.
